Emergency lighting is typically used to illuminate a path of egress away from an area experiencing power failure or during other emergency conditions. Conventional emergency lighting fixtures include either a fixed optic or an adjustable lighting head that can be adjusted to aim the light emitted therefrom to the designated path of egress. These adjustable lighting heads typically emit a symmetrical beam of light and have two adjustment axes for aiming the emitted light in a particular direction, which is described in further detail below with respect to FIG. 1. However, there are some adjustable lighting heads that emit an asymmetrical beam, but they do not provide additional adjustment mechanisms, such as an additional adjustment axis, for refining the emitting direction of the asymmetrical beam.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an adjustable lighting head 100 coupled to a mounting pin 150 in accordance with the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1, the adjustable lighting head 100 includes a housing 110, a light source 120, and a lens 130. The housing 110 is parabolic-shaped and includes a sidewall 112 that surrounds a cavity (not shown) and extends to a distal end 114. The distal end 114 defines a light-emitting opening 116. The housing 110 also includes a mounting opening 118 that is formed into the sidewall 112. The housing 110 is fabricated from aluminum, but can be fabricated using other suitable materials, such as a different metal, a metal alloy, or plastic.
The light source 120 is positioned within the cavity and oriented to direct light through the light-emitting opening 116. The light source 120 is any type of light source including, but not limited to, an incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, or compact fluorescent light bulb, a light emitting diode (LED) (including discrete LEDs, LED packages, LED arrays, or chip on board LEDs), and an organic light emitting diode (OLED). The lens 130 is similarly shaped according to the shape of the light-emitting opening 116 and is coupled substantially about the distal end 114 to cover the light-emitting opening 116. The lens 130 emits light from the light source 120 in a symmetrical manner. The lens 130 is fabricated from an acrylic material, but can be fabricated using other suitable materials, such as glass. The lens 130 is fixed in position and is not rotatable once coupled to the housing 110.
The mounting pin 150 is cylindrically shaped and is mounted to the housing 110 within the mounting opening 118. The mounting pin 150 is rotatable, thereby allowing the adjustable lighting head 100 to also rotate circumferentially. The coupling of the mounting pin 150 to the housing 110 is known to people having ordinary skill in the art. The mounting pin 150 is fabricated from aluminum, but can be fabricated using other suitable materials, such as a different metal, a metal alloy, or plastic.
Upon the adjustable lighting head 100 being coupled to the mounting pin 150, the adjustable lighting head 100 is rotatable 360 degrees about a vertical axis. Also, the adjustable lighting head 100 is adjustable less than 90 degrees about a horizontal axis. Thus, there is a first horizontal axis 105 that controls the tilt orientation of the adjustable lighting head 100 and a second vertical axis 107 that controls the rotational orientation of the adjustable lighting head 100.
The drawings illustrate only exemplary embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The elements and features shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the exemplary embodiments. Additionally, certain dimensions or positionings may be exaggerated to help visually convey such principles.